Pygmies Face Challenge of Integration

By Tansa Musa, IPS, 3 August 1997

YAOUNDE, Aug 3 (IPS) - Relentless felling of trees in the tropical
rainforests in which they live has forced pygmies in southern
Cameroon to give up their nomadic lifestyle and face the challenges
of modern society.

One community that has had to make the switch to permanent
settlements is the Bagyeli, who live between Lolodorf, 300 km
south of here, and the Atlantic port of Kribi.

Like other pygmy groups, they used to wander from place to
place, surviving on hunting and fruit gathering, and living in
temporary homes made of sticks and leaves. But over the past two
to three decades, they have fallen victim to large-scale logging
and the clearing of forest for roads and agriculture by their
Bantu neighbours.

These activities have driven them from their ancestral land --
as has happened to indigenous people elsewhere in the world -- cut
them off from their traditional way of life and compelled them to
integrate with the dominant Bantu society in Cameroon.

To face up to this challenge, the Bagyeli formed the Committee
for the Advancement of the Bagyeli people of Bipindi and Kribi
(CODEBABIK) in 1994 with the help of Catholic missionaries. Three
years on, they are proud of their achievements so far.

"When one enters a Bantu kitchen, one is struck by the quality
and quality of utensils one finds there and the clean
environment," says 40-year-old Jeanne Mbamitoo, who is in charge
of hygiene and women's activities in CODEBABIK. "Thanks to our
self-help loan-thrift society, we can also aspire to having half
if not as much as Bantu women have."

"Pygmies who still wander around, live on hunting and fruit
gathering are those of the older generation," says another member
of the group. "Today we are settled and agriculture is our main
activity.

"We practise it with the spirit of 'Subibaba', which in Bagyeli
means 'unity is strength'. Our farms may be small and disorderly
but every day we are learning to improve on them and adopt modern
technology. In addition to agriculture we operate a loan-thrift
society to provide better utensils for our women."

Bagyeli villages are a far cry from what they used to be two
decades ago. The traditional makeshift huts have given way to mud-
plastered houses roofed with zinc sheets and equipped with modern
furniture. The wireless set is a familiar companion.

The Bagyeli have also understood the importance of education
and now send their children to school. "Education is the key to
our further progress," says 44-year old Joseph Nkoro, three of
whose five children are in school -- the eldest is attending high
school in Yaounde.

"When I arrived here in 1994, there were only seven Bagyeli
children in school," recalls Jean Paul Mimboh, headmaster of the
primary school at Nkoungio, a locality in the area. "Today they
are 60 and are among the best pupils."

A government programme to provide free education to pygmy
children is yet to take root. The only assistance some of them
receive is from church missionaries. Otherwise they pay for their
children's education with their earnings from farming and small-
scale livestock rearing.

However, the government has provided some primary health care.
Each week, a team of health professionals headed by the chief
medical doctor for the district of Lolodorf travels around the
Bagyeli camps (small villages) consulting and giving practical
lessons on primary health care and hygiene and sanitation.

"It is true there has been a net improvement in our standards
of living," CODEBANIK Secretary-General Jacques Ngoun, a teacher
who was trained by Catholic missionaries, tells IPS. "That has
not come about in three days. It has taken time."

The Bagyeli still lag behind their Bantu neighbours whom they
have traditionally served as house boys and guards. However, Ngoun
is optimistic that this gap will some day be closed.

"Development takes time, patience and hard work," he says. "Our
primary goal is to strengthen Bagyeli unity and, depending on our
own efforts to improve our overall conditions of living.

"It is encouraging to note that the number of camps that are
members of CODEBABIK has increased from 13 in 1995 to 20 today and
that more and larger farms are created each passing day, ensuring
our survival."

According to Sister Dolors of the Congregation of the Small
Sisters of Jesus, the missionary group that helped found
CODEBABIK, the Bagyeli have today reached the stage of fighting
not just for survival but for real progress.

The Congregation has been working among the Bagyeli since 1952,
she says, adding: "We can leave them today and go to help others
elsewhere. We are sure they will stand on their own and, given the
opportunities, can even beat their Bantu countrymen."

"I only fear that while moving ahead they may forget or lose
their own rich cultures - their dance, music, etc."

Cameroonians in general stand to lose much if this happens
since, in addition to music and dance, the pygmies are famous for
their deep knowledge of herbs, which they have used to save many
lives in this Central African country.

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